Dash Baxter has been found murdered in his home, but who committed the act? The primary suspect is 15yearold Danny Fenton, but could there be someone else with a grudge? Or is Danny guilty of 1st degree murder?

Can't
believe this story is almost done! I've got a few more loose ends
to tie up. All of you are speculating on who killed Dash. Well, let's
see if any of you are right. The trial is not quite over, since they
still have one thing to determine.

"Ladies
and Gentleman, I thank you for your service." the judge declared.
"Defendant is remanded until sentencing."

Danny
was in a state of shock and did not protest as the police dragged him
away. Maddie and Jack watched their son's helplessness, tears in
their eyes. For once, even Vlad was in a state of shock, but quickly
recovered. "This isn't over just yet." he told them. "The
judge still has to decide whether she will punish him as an adult or
a juvenile. We'll get him the most lenient punishment possible and
appeal to a higher. I'll get Daniel out, I promise you."

"So
who's going to be the one who gives Danny's friends the news?"
asked Maddie. "I'm in no shape to do so."

"Let
that to me, Maddie." Vlad suggested. "I am not in great emotional
shape either, but someone has to tell them. They'll learn from the
newspapers, in any case. Besides, I suspect one of them is
responsible."

"If
I had known what that boy did to my son, I'd been tempted to kill
him myself." Jack declared. They got into the Fenton assault
vehicle and drove home. They saw a couple of ghosts along the way,
but even Jack was not in the mood to hunt them. They opened the door
to see Sam and Jazz anxiously awaiting the news.

"So
what happened?" asked Jazz. She looked over their faces. "Oh,
god, he was convicted, wasn't he?"

"I'm
afraid so, Jasmine." Jack replied sadly. "I can't believe they
could do that to him."

"How
could you have done that, Sam?" asked Maddie. "It's not your
fault. All we can do now is make sure that Danny gets the lightest
sentence possible. I shudder to think of what prison will do to him."

"Daniel
has been convicted. Kill Baker." Vlad stated on his phone. The
others looked at him. "I said, Daniel has been convicted. Let's
bake his friends some cake. It's what my parents always did to calm
me down… although Jack always ate most of it."

"Those
were good times, weren't they, V-man?" Jack replied with a brief
smile. The sadness soon returned to him, though. "Will your lawyers
still be willing to defend him?"

"We
have to do something to get him out of there!" Jazz insisted.
"Organize a jail break if we have to!"

"Jazz,
that's not going to do any good." Maddie disagreed. "We've
got to get him out through legal means. Vlad, can you pull some
strings?"

"Anything
for Daniel, my dear." Vlad smirked. "The sentencing will be in a
couple of days, so I'll be able to bribe- I mean Negotiate with
other judges and let them know of a miscarriage of justice."

"I
wish this didn't happen." Sam cried. "God only knows what kind
of things Danny's suffering through right now."

The
sentencing period of the trial had begun. Danny sat in his usual
seat, a haunted look in his eyes. He said nothing as the witnesses
were called to make their statement. Sam's parents had told the
judge about what kind of person they knew he was and urged the judge
to give him the harshest punishment possible.

"I
do not believe Mr. Fenton is capable of murder; I want to make that
perfectly clear." Mr. Lancer stated. He planned on doing everything
in his power to make sure Danny was punished leniently. "In all
honesty, I was not convinced by the evidence and believe that the
jury made their verdict based on emotion rather than objectivity.
Think of what prison will do to him. I beg of you, punish him as a
juvenile. He is not beyond redemption and could very well be
innocent."

"Thank
you, Mr. Lancer." the judge told him. "Are there any others who
wish to make a statement regarding this case?"

Mr.
Baxter stood up and addressed the court. "I know that my son was
probably not the best of people, but he did not deserve to be
brutally murdered. This boy took him away from us and words cannot
describe the pain I feel because of this loss. My son told me of what
the defendant had done to him, of what crimes he had committed inside
the school. He should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,
your honor." He sat down, glaring at Danny with hatred. Paulina and
Kwan made their statements as well, both wanting Danny to be punished
as an adult.

Sam
and Jazz both testified as well, pleading for Danny not to be hurt.
"Please, your honor, he is a traumatized boy who has been through a
great deal. The evidence does not even say for certain if he is
guilty or not. Sending him to prison will permanently destroy him.
You must know what it is like in there, particularly for juveniles.
He could be killed or at least mentally scarred for the rest of his
life. Do you want that hanging over your shoulders?" Sam stated
essentially the same thing, but added that Danny was innocent and the
judge would be condemning an innocent boy to death.

It
was finally time for the attorneys to make their statements. Gonzales
went first, emotional despite herself. "I know what the first
impressions of such a crime would be. The first urge is to lock him
up and throw away the key. I implore you to show leniency, your
honor. Sending a juvenile to prison is the equivalent of a death
sentence. New evidence may come around that proves him innocent and
it will be very difficult to apologize to my client if he is dead.

"How
many juveniles have been sentenced to adult prison in this city? You
can count them on one hand. He may be guilty, he may not be, but he
is not beyond redemption. The court has never sentenced someone so
young to adult prison and the only ones who are sent there are
murderous psychopaths, which my client is clearly not. He is a
15-year-old boy under unendurable stress. My client had no one to
turn to; no one to trust, but neither did anyone else. He is being
used as a scapegoat for the vengeful public. Please do not make their
mistake, your honor. The purpose of the juvenile justice system is to
rehabilitate, not punish.

"Finally,
why is my client still proclaiming his innocence? He has nothing to
gain and everything to lose. He has already been found guilty. A
guilty plea and a show of remorse would be perfect for leniency, but
he still denies it. I ask you to ponder why, your honor. Keep my
client out of the adult justice system because there are others who
could have committed the crime as well." Saying that, she sat down.
Baker now had her turn to speak.

She
had to admit, she was rather shaken with the attempt on her life the
previous night. If not for her bodyguards, that mechanical ghost
would have succeeded in his attempt. Regaining her composure, she
began to speak. "Yes, it is true that the juvenile system is
intended to rehabilitate them. However, there are some that the law
cannot do anything for. The defendant is one of these people. 12
ordinary citizens stated that he was guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt. Add that to the river of evidence against him and it is next
to impossible to be mistaken.

"The
defense is trying to draw your sympathy towards the defendant.
Instead think about the victim. Mr. Fenton slaughtered a helpless
young man, who had no capability to defend himself. He stabbed the
defendant 5 times, simply out of hatred. This is not a sign of
innocence. This is not a sign of someone who can be rehabilitated.

"The
defendant has a history of violence, escalating over the past year.
He went to more and more extreme measures to get revenge against his
tormentor and he had finally decided to be the judge, jury, and
executioner. The defendant had other options. He could have gone to
another school, in order to get away from the bullying. Instead he
decided to murder a fellow student out of rage and anger.

"It
is painfully clear that Mr. Fenton is dangerous. He has killed once,
and what's to say that he won't kill again? If you treat him with
kindness and leniency, your honor, you will be spreading the message
to serious offenders everywhere, not merely the defendant, that the
law is inefficient. He is a danger to society and you have an
obligation to protect the public from such a person." She sat down,
sighing.

"I
will need time to make my decision." the judge told everyone.
"Court will reconvene at 2:00 PM." With that, they left. Danny
heard a pleading voice, but told the person to be silent. He was
getting exactly what he deserved. What happened to him didn't
matter anymore.

"Where
is Vlad?" asked Maddie. "I can't believe after all this he
abandoned us."

"Maddie,
I'm sure he's doing something to help us." Jack reassured.
"He's got connections we could only dream of. I just hope Danny
can survive all this." Both Sam and Jazz were crying and Jack had
to admit, it was difficult to stop himself from doing so, as well.

After
what seemed like an eternity, the court was back in session. The
judge made a deep sigh and began speaking. "This is far from an
easy decision. I have weighed all the factors, and while the
defendant is undoubtedly guilty, the punishment he deserves is a much
more difficult decision to make. He has killed a defenseless
classmate, shows no remorse, and has a boatload of evidence pointing
to him. The defense has brought up some legitimate points concerning
the justice system and it is true that no one so young has ever been
sentenced to prison. That being said, based on the horrific nature of
the crime and the defendant's history, I believe the defendant
cannot be rehabilitated. Daniel Fenton, in accordance with the laws
of California, I sentence you to a term of no less than 25 years and
no more than the rest of your natural life in a place to be
determined by the Department of Correction."

There
were mixed screams of joy and shock. Maddie grabbed onto her son like
his life depended on it. Jack flipped off the judge and prosecutor,
promising a lawsuit. Finally, a voice shouted. "It was me! I did
it! I killed him!" Of all people, it was….Jazz.

"I
went to his house and brought the knife!" Jazz continued, tearing
up yet again. "I stabbed him again and again because of what he did
to my brother! I'm sorry, Danny! I'm so sorry!" She hugged him
tightly, crying into his shoulder.

"The
prosecutor is right." Danny spoke up. "I killed Dash. My sister
is lying to protect me." The officers began to take him away.

"Why,
Danny, why?" she asked tearfully.

"You
have a future Jazz, a wonderful life ahead of you. I don't and it's
better that the worthless one take the fall." The Fentons left the
courthouse, terribly upset. The adults couldn't even bring
themselves to yell at Jazz and drove home in silence. Vlad soon
joined them and offered his consolation. He took Jazz to a private
room.

"I
want to know what happened Jasmine." Vlad requested softly. "I
know it's difficult, but you have to tell me."

Jazz
sighed and began her story. "Two weeks before I killed Dash, I
finally found out what happened to Danny. He was… raped by both
Dash and his dad. I was furious and went to confront him. Dash
laughed and offered a deal. He would leave Danny alone if I had sex
with him and his dad. I did so, not wanting Danny to suffer any more.

"But
it just got worse. I felt like a prostitute, but was willing to
endure it for his sake. Dash broke his promise, though, and broke
Danny's. I decided to get him out of his life permanently. I went
to his house and he was expecting sex. I gave him alcohol and
cocaine, saying it would increase the excitement. When he was
helpless, I knew exactly where to stab him. I thought that was the
end of it; I never expected Danny to go to prison1 I should have said
something sooner!"

"Are
you willing to testify to that?" Vlad asked, hugging her gently.
"We can bring him to justice. Let me worry about getting Daniel out
before any permanent damage is done. Are you willing to help me?"

"How
can we prove it? He'll just say that's Danny's lying."

"I
have various ways to create evidence. You'd be surprised what my
technology can do. Just let Uncle Vlad take care of him."

Robbins
and Smith walked to the Baxter house yet again, knocking on the door.
Mr. Baxter answered the door and they immediately went into action.

"Put
your hands behind your back." Smith demanded, cuffing him. "You
are under arrest for the rape of Daniel Fenton and unlawful sexual
intercourse. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that
right, anything you saw can and will be used against you in a court
of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford and
attorney, one will be provided for you by the state."

Finally,
the story's done! Figured I'd show some justice, as well as
giving a reason why Jazz killed Dash. As for what happens to Danny,
well, I'm thinking about writing a sequel. Or maybe I'll simply
leave it to your imagination. Please review!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.